ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the immediate antecedents of problematic behaviour - its triggers. Interventions at this level aim to reduce the incidence of problematic behaviours by working directly on the trigger-action sequence. The triggers for problematic behaviour can be any stimulus within a person's external environment, such as the sight of something, a specific sound or smell, specific people or places, the things people say. Clearly identifiable triggers could be removed from the person's physical environment, provided that their presence was felt to be unnecessary to the person's quality of life or to the quality of life of others. There may be an identifiable stimulus which consistently triggers an action that may be withdrawal or it may be approach. The majority of interventions which focus directly on triggers are based upon a graded approach to change for their success - a gradual extension of triggers, a gradual reintroduction of a trigger, a gradual reduction of triggers.
